A proposed measure to carry out regular drug tests among inmates of the country's penal facilities has hurdled the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs.
Tackled by the panel chaired by Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on Friday, Sept. 4, was House Bill (HB) No.5627, also known as the proposed "Drug-free prisons Act." It was authored by Magdalo Party-List Rep. Manuel Cabochan.
Acting on a motion, Barbers said the bill will be "adopted and consequently approved subject to the proposed amendments by the resource persons," particularly on Section 5 of the measure which deals with the consequences to an inmate or person deprived of liberty (PDL) in case of a positive drug test result.
At the same time, Barbers noted the spirit of the bill itself elicited no objection from the resource persons or other attending House members during the virtual hearing.
Cabochan said his measure's aim is to deter the abuse of illegal drugs behind bars by imposing random and unannounced tests.
He noted how law enforcers' raids within penal facilities in past years have yielded a huge cache of illegal drugs and related paraphernalia, thus showing that the narcotics trade persists in these institutions.
"The lack of appropriate safeguards to prevent such illicit undertaking has caused the flourishing of these reprehensible activities in what are supposed to be institutions meant to discipline or rehabilitate felons," said the former Navy lieutenant in his sponsorship speech.
Barbers agreed with the author's observation, saying, "We should presume na wala na talagang drugs sa loob but reality tells us nangyayari talaga yun (We should presume that there is no drug abuse inside our jails but reality tells us that those activities happen)."
Cabochan said his proposed drug tests covers all city, district, municipal, provincial, and sub-provincial jails under the supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the local government units (LGUs); all prison and reformation facilities under the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor); and custodial centers of the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
"Prisoners/ detainees shall be subject to such tests and, if tested positive shall undergo treatment in a rehabilitation facility for illegal drugs...Government officials/ employees who shall be proven positive for illegal drug use, their rehabilitation notwithstanding, shall suffer administrative and criminal sanctions," he said.
Cabochan said it's only proper to impose additional punishment or sanctions against inmates who are proven to use drugs while already serving their sentence.
One possible sanction is declaring the erring inmate ineligible for good conduct time allowance (GCTA) credits, as suggested by panel vice-chairman, PATROL Party-List Rep. Jorge Bustos. Cabochan said he was amenable to this.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) pitched that the positive inmates be made to undergo drug rehab in-house, or within the same penal facility that they are detained.
Aside from the lack of rehab centers, it has also occurred in the past that inmates transferred to these facilities have escaped since rehab center personnel aren't trained to handle convicted felons, the PDEA said.